A: THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION
 

PREMISE 1A

 

Australia must place a higher priority on education than at present if desirable national and individual goals are to be achieved. It is the responsibility of State and Federal Governments to provide a system of free and secular government schools open to all in order to spread the benefits of education as widely as possible.

 

POLICY

 

1.1  A high national priority for education is important to promote:

 

(a)    equality of social, political and economic opportunity for all Australians;

 

(b)   personal development and the fulfillment of personal aspirations;

 

(c)    appreciation of the values and views of others;

 

(d)   the development and survival of Australia as a nation in terms of economic, technological, environmental, social and security considerations;

 

(e)    global understanding, proper participation in world citizenship and care of the global environment;

 

(f)     orderly resource development to achieve national goals and to help less well endowed nations; and

 

(g)    the removal of national, sectarian and racial intolerance, as well as intolerance on the grounds of sex, age and disability.

 

B: AIMS OF EDUCATION

 

PREMISE 1B

 

The basic aim of education is to help each individual to progress toward the attainment of his or her full potential, both as a person and as a member of society.

 

POLICY

 

1.2  Education must aim to develop as fully as possible each individual's potential and to equip her or him to adapt and grow in the face of rapid change. This implies that each student's own motivation and ability must be developed to assist him or her to acquire self-confidence and a sense of personal worth. To this end, government schools should promote the acquisition of fundamental skills, intellectual development, pre-vocational preparation, citizenship, health, a sense of values, aesthetic appreciation, worthwhile use of leisure time and conflict resolution skills.

 

C: FREEDOM FROM DISCRIMINATION

 

PREMISE 1C

 

Education should be free of all forms of sexual, religious and racial discrimination, as well as discrimination on the basis of disabilities or socio-economic circumstances. This lack of discrimination should be clearly reflected in school organisation, teaching programs and materials, and interpersonal relationships within the school community.

 

POLICY

 

1.3  Schools should provide every student with an equal opportunity to develop their creative, academic, social and physical abilities to their full potential regardless of sex, abilities, socio-economic circumstances, religion or race.

 

1.4  P&C Federation rejects racism in all its forms direct, indirect including vilification and harassment.

 

1.5  DET and the Board of Studies must ensure that all Departmental and school structures, curriculum and resource materials, are free from institutional racism and racist behaviour.

 

1.6  Because the role of the sexes in society is changing, schools have a special responsibility to provide positive encouragement to both boys and girls to participate fully in all aspects of school and community life. All administrative procedures which discriminate on the grounds of sex against any students in the allocation of funds, material resources or staff should be altered.

 

1.7  P&C Federation believes that homophobia is unacceptable in schools and society.

 

1.8  P&C Federation believes that the Department of Education and Training should implement a policy which requires each school to have a policy for combating homophobia. Such policy must be developed through consultation with parents.

 

D: STUDENTS' RIGHTS

 

PREMISE 1D

 

Students in government schools have rights as well as responsibilities. Legislation to provide for the Rights of Students, as set out below, should be introduced.

 

POLICY

 

1.9  Students' rights include the following:

 

(a)    the right to teaching programs which individualise education and promote learning to enable students to develop the basic competencies of literacy, numeracy and reasoning skills and to pursue excellence throughout the curriculum they study;

 

(b)   the right to teaching programs and support services which enhance personal, social, emotional and educational growth and engender self-esteem and self-motivation;

 

(c)    the right to a curriculum which relates to each individual's social, linguistic and cultural needs;

 

(d)   the right to psychological counselling, diagnostic testing and early remedial services in schools;

 

(e)    the right to career counselling and work experience programs integrated in the curriculum, at least from Year 7, to facilitate appropriate occupational choice;

 

(f)     the right for early leavers to re-enter school without restriction;

 

(g)    the right to school policy and organisation which encourage respect for students as individuals;

 

(h)    the right to the fullest possible information about school teaching programs, intended outcomes and course content to enable, among other things, informed choice of courses to be made;

 

(i)      the right to information on the relationship between the educational program and life choices;

 

(j)     the right to be involved in decision-making and to progressively take greater responsibility for decisions;

 

(k)   the right to feel physically safe and emotionally secure;

 

(l)      the absolute right to parent or guardian representation during interviews by police or other authorities while on school property; and

 

(m)  the right to appeal against the results of assessments, including Higher School Certificate results, on the grounds of educational disadvantage (in both Years 11 and 12 where HSC results are concerned).

 

1.10    P&C Federation should investigate the feasibility of establishing an independent body to examine student claims of educational disadvantage, such a body to have representation from P&C Federation and from the Board of Studies.

 

1.11    The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, proclaimed by the United Nations' General Assembly in November 1989, should be adopted in principle by the Federal Government.

 

E: Student Participation and Representation

 

PREMISE 1E

 

The participation of students in decision-making at a local district and state-level is vital both for the health of the system and to encourage the development of civic responsibility and the skills of citizenship.

 

It is essential that the independent student voice be clearly heard by all parents, teachers and administrators. To this end, regular opportunities must be provided for the widespread public expression of representative student opinion.

 

Civics and citizenship cannot be effectively taught within an anti-democratic, authoritarian or patronising structure. It is how schools are run, as much as what is taught in them, that determines the quality of student outcomes. Student Representative Councils do not exist to promote the policies or actions of the government, the Department or any other group and must be free from bureaucratic control. Their effectiveness depends on their independence and their ability to clearly express a representative voice.

 

Student participation can be, and has been, most effective in securing the co-operation and involvement of the student population and in reducing the incidents of antisocial behaviour.

 

POLICY

 

1.12           

(a)    Student leadership is an important outcome of student participation and representation, but leadership must not be restricted to the recognition of individuals with leadership abilities. People lead and follow under different circumstances. Fostering leadership means encouraging the right, duty and ability of all individuals to influence the outcomes of group action.

 

(b)   Student participation and representation is a vital part of students' learning and should be taught as part of the core curriculum, as well as Civics and Citizenship modules.

 

(c)    Student participation and representation must be properly resourced as an essential and integral part of civics and citizenship learning. Civics and Citizenship funding must not be devoted overwhelmingly to content-based instruction.

 

(d)   Student participation and representation is most often expressed through Student Representative Councils (SRCs), but must not be limited to established structures. Students must be encouraged to participate fully in matters that concern them on an individual, group and representative basis.

 

(e)    Student representative structures must be encouraged in all primary and secondary schools. Information on the presence and effectiveness of student participation and representation must be publicly available and included in annual school reports.

 

(f)     Communication between student representative structures, including between primary and secondary student representative structures, must be strengthened. Regional Directors must report on the establishment of, the support of and the communication between, Student Representative Councils and the extent and effectiveness of student participation and representation generally.

 

(g)    Communication between Student Representative Councils and parent organisations must be strengthened. Students, including student representatives, should be invited to and made welcome at parent meetings to express student views and to seek parent support for student initiatives. Parent organisations should assist student aims wherever possible, including fostering communication with teachers, principals and others and encouraging broad-based community action.

 

(h)    Support and assistance must be given at a school, district and state-level but this must not be used as a means to interfere with or censor deliberations, or to side-track or marginalise decisions. All resolutions of State Student representative Council Conference or State Student Representative Council must be made public.

 

(i)      Students should be entitled to participate in all appropriate school, district and state committees where parents and community are members. Students must not be prevented from representing their constituents on any committee or other body to which they have been duly elected.

 

(j)     Student Representative Councils should be prevented by their constitutions from undertaking party-political activities but must otherwise be free to express opinions and engage in actions in the same manner and to the same extent as similar organisations in the adult sphere.

 

(k)   Action must be taken to relieve the workload and increase the status of Student Representative Council teacher advisers.

 

(l)      Student organisations must not become agents of existing authorities and must not be pressured into undertaking policing or other functions that subvert their ability to represent and to secure the cooperation of the student population as a whole.

58 53

F: PARENTS' RIGHTS

 

PREMISE 1F

 

Parents and guardians have rights with respect to the education of their children in government schools. Legislation to provide for the Rights of Parents as set out below should be introduced. In addition, it is the right of children and their parents or guardians to jointly make educational choices as to the type of education they want and the type of school the children attend. Parent participation is the most effective method of ensuring individual needs of students are addressed.

 

POLICY

 

1.13          Parents' and guardians' rights include the following:

 

(a)    the right to choice among schools in their community for their children's education;

 

(b)   the absolute right to have their child educated at their local school;

 

(c)    the right to apply for enrolment and have that application fairly dealt with, at any government school that, having satisfied local demand, seeks further enrolments;

 

(d)   the right of access to the Principal, teachers and other professional staff involved in the education and welfare of their children;

 

(e)    the right to regular, informative reports on their children's progress and to consequent discussions with those responsible for the reports;

 

(f)     the right to participate in making policy and rules in the schools their children attend;

 

(g)    the right to express, and to have seriously considered, a viewpoint on any educational experience organised by the school which affects their children's educational or social development;

 

(h)    the right to be consulted whenever any major change in educational practices or programs is proposed for their children;

 

(i)      the right to prohibit the administration of corporal punishment to their children within any government school;

 

(j)     the right to be consulted before suspension of their children from school;

 

(k)   the right, through representative parent organisations, to be informed in advance about all proposed new or amended legislation and regulations which will affect their children's education, and to be consulted about such matters in appropriate ways;

 

(l)      the right to inspect their children's cumulative records and draw attention to any errors of fact, and the right to request a review by the Director-General when agreement cannot be reached;

 

(m)  the right to information and participation in discussions about any psychological, psychiatric or medical assessment and/or treatment of their children;

 

(n)    the absolute right to be present, with legal representation, during interviews of their children at school by police or other authorities; and

 

(o)   the right to nominate a parent-approved surrogate.

 

G: STUDENTS' RECORDS

 

PREMISE 1G

 

The New South Wales Government should introduce legislation or regulations with regard to student records clearly setting out the manner in which such records are to be kept and the manner in which information they contain may or may not be released to specified persons.

 

POLICY

 

1.14    'In-school' records of each student may be maintained at the school he or she attends and may contain all relevant, current personal records. Such records may be built up over the student's attendance at that school; shall be examined and revised as necessary at least once every year; shall not be transferred to other schools; and shall be either  transferred to the student's parents or destroyed, as the parents decide, when the student leaves that school.

 

1.15    'Permanent' records of each student may be maintained throughout his or her attendance at government schools and may be passed from school to school. Such records may contain only facts of a permanent nature: name, date of birth, relevant health information, school enrolments, subjects studied and abilities in each, and results of any standard testing carried out. No information of a subjective nature may be included. The Department of Education and Training may retain such records for a maximum of six years after the student leaves government schools.

 

1.16    Each student and his or her parents shall have the right of access to, and control of access by others to, any records maintained in relation to that student. They shall also have the right to request correction of facts on such records [see Policy Item 1.9 (j)]. Such records and the information contained in them shall be confidential within the school and access to them shall be confined to professional staff that has a direct educational, counselling or welfare relationship with the student concerned. Police and other authorities shall have access to a student's records only with necessary legal authorisation and the written consent of the parents or guardians. No access to student records shall be provided to commercial interests or sporting, religious and other community groups.

 

1.17    It is important that measures be taken to maintain confidentiality and the principles of access outlined above in the event of student records being placed in a computer data base.

 

1.18    In a secular system of education it is inappropriate to include in student records information on religious affiliation over and above that relating to attendance at Special Religious Education classes.

 

H: POST SCHOOL EDUCATION

 

PREMISE 1H

 

Everyone has a right to education throughout life to maximise their human potential, including the right to return to school to continue their secondary education later in life. Everyone has the right to continuing and further education and tertiary and technical education should be equally available to all educationally qualified persons.

 

POLICY

 

1.19    Facilities should be allocated so as to make education accessible to all people, whenever and wherever they want to and can take advantage of it.

Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 1

54

I: EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

 

PREMISE 1I

 

There is a need to expand educational research and to improve the flow of information on educational matters in Australia generally and in New South Wales in particular.

 

POLICY

 

1.20    The terms of reference of the Schools Council should include the right to inquire into any aspect of the present state or future development of pre-school, primary, secondary or special education and to make recommendations on, or guidelines for, future developments.

 

1.21    Educational research and the exchange of information are of vital importance but duplication of research effort should be avoided. A national information service for schools and other educational groups is essential in this context.